This invention relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices such as portable electronic devices with hard drive circuit boards that use space efficiently.
Handheld electronic devices and other portable electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. Examples of handheld devices include handheld computers, cellular telephones, media players, and hybrid devices that include the functionality of multiple devices of this type. Popular portable electronic devices that are somewhat larger than traditional handheld electronic devices include laptop computers and tablet computers.
Portable devices often use printed circuit boards. Components that may be mounted to printed circuit boards include integrated circuits, discrete electrical components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and other components such as electrical connectors. Portable devices also may include mass storage devices such as hard drives. Hard drives are controlled by control circuits that are mounted on a hard drive controller printed circuit board. These control circuits are used for functions such as motor control and read-write head placement. To minimize the amount of space that is consumed in a modern small-form-factor hard drive, the hard drive controller printed circuit board is typically mounted within the housing of the hard drive. Although this type of arrangement may be acceptable in some applications, it may lead to packaging inefficiencies. For example, even though space is at a premium in many portable electronic devices, hard drive controller printed circuit boards tend to be sparsely populated. Underutilization of the real estate on hard drive controller boards in this way can be wasteful.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved hard drive arrangements for portable electronic devices.